Pacific Debt Relief: 2024 Review

Pacific Debt Relief can typically assist with any unsecured loan (a loan that doesn’t require you to use your home or other asset as collateral). This includes the following types of debt:  

• Business debts

• Collections

• Credit cards

• Lines of credit

• Medical bills

• Personal loans

• Private student loans 

• Repossessions

• Store cards

Ineligible debts

Some debts cannot be settled by Pacific Debt Relief, either because the debts are secured by collateral or because they are associated with the government or court system. Ineligible debts include:

• Auto loans

• Debts from lawsuits or court judgments

• Governmental loans

• IRS debt 

• Mortgages or home loans 

• Utility bills

• Other secured debt

Pacific Debt Relief negotiates and communicates with your creditors in an effort to settle your debt. Services include: 

• Free consultation: You'll get a free one-on-one consultation with a program debt advisor to determine your eligibility, estimate the potential cost and see what your repayment plan could look like. 

• Client care representative set-up: If you decide to sign up, a client care representative will help you with initial tasks like gathering the necessary documentation and managing creditor calls.

• Personal account manager: Once the debt relief plan begins, you'll be assigned a personal account manager. Your manager will contact you to authorize each settlement in writing before moving forward. 

• Monthly deposits: Instead of paying your creditor(s) each month, you’ll make a monthly deposit to an account with Pacific Debt Relief. Pacific Debt will use these funds to pay down your settlement.

• Monthly updates: Your account manager should contact you monthly with a progress update on negotiations and where you are in the repayment process. It generally takes 24 to 48 months of qualifying payments to settle your accounts.

If a debt settlement cannot be reached, either because you don’t qualify or because you and your creditors cannot agree on terms, Pacific Debt Relief Can talk to you about other debt relief solutions, including:

• Credit counseling

• Debt consolidation loans

• Filing bankruptcy

Like other debt relief companies, Pacific Debt Relief doesn't charge any upfront fees. Once negotiations are complete and your debt is settled, it gets paid a percentage of your settled debt. 

Fees typically range between 15 percent and 25 percent of your total settled debt, depending on the amount of debt at enrollment and your state of residence. These fees are rolled into your monthly payments, so you don’t have to pay a lump sum out of pocket when the debt is settled.

Credit score consequences

When you use a debt settlement company, you can expect your credit score to drop. This is because you stop paying your creditors, resulting in more missed payment marks on your credit record. This payment stoppage is necessary for negotiations. The longer you go without paying, the more likely a creditor is to reduce your debt to cut their losses.  

Pacific Debt Relief states that it can't accurately predict how much your credit will drop but agrees that debt settlement may not be right for you if maintaining a high credit score is your main financial priority.

Risks of debt settlement

Having some of your debt forgiven through debt settlement sounds like a great deal, but there are several risks of debt settlement, including:

• The process can take a full year or two.

• Debt settlement stays on your credit for many years after being completed.

• There are no guarantees that a creditor will negotiate with you, so you could destroy your credit without any positive results.

• The amount of debt forgiven as a result of the settlement could be counted as taxable income by the IRS, meaning you could have to pay income taxes on that amount.

• By the time you settle the debt, pay the debt relief company, cover any fees and pay taxes on the forgiven debt, you could end up paying more than if you had repaid the full debt on your own. 

Before proceeding with debt settlement, explore other debt-relief options, such as:

• Credit counseling

• Debt consolidation

• Debt management

To be eligible for the Pacific Debt Relief program, you must:

• Enroll at least $10,000 in qualified debts

• Prove that making payments and late fees is financially difficult

• Not live in Oregon (the only state not serviced by Pacific Debt Relief)

• BBB rating and accreditation: BBB Accredited with an A+ Rating

• BBB customer reviews: 4.93 out of 1,879 reviews

• ConsumerAffairs: 4.4 out of 548 reviews

• Google reviews: 4.6 out of 261 reviews

• Trustpilot: 4.8 out of 1,807 reviews

Review information accurate as of Sept. 18, 2024.

Pacific Debt Relief has developed a reputation for excellent customer service. It has an A+ Better Business Bureau (BBB) rating and an average of 4.93 out of 5 stars. In the past three years, only five customer complaints have been submitted to the BBB about the company, and each was quickly resolved to the consumer’s satisfaction.

As is often the case with debt relief companies, Pacific Debt Relief tends to receive poor reviews from clients who saw their credit scores drop and were disappointed with the length of the process.  

Accreditations

Pacific Debt Relief holds the following accreditations and certifications:

• Accredited by the Better Business Bureau (BBB)

• Accredited by the Consumer Debt Relief Initiative (CDRI)

• Certified by the International Association of Professional Debt Arbitrators (IAPDA)

Phone: 877-722-3328 

Operating hours: 

• Monday through Thursday: 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. PST

• Friday: 6 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. PST

• Saturday: 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. PST

Address: 750 B Street, Suite 1700, San Diego, CA 92101

Fax: 619-238-6709

Email: cs@pacificdebt.com (clients) / inquiries@pacificdebt.com (non-client inquiries)

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